Next Productions: Tervamäki & Martin Gala and a Major Production Carmen
Savoy Theatre will be the Resident Stage of Compañía Kaari Martin
Dance group Compañía Kaari Martin has agreed upon a contract of residency with Savoy Theatre for 2012-2013. The agreement sees the group concentrating its productions to Savoy and produces shows to be performed at the theatre on a yearly basis. The year 2011 has been lively for the group and ended with international vibes, for instance carrying out Danish co-productions, amongst others.
Majority of Compañía Kaari Martin’s premieres, as the breakthrough works La Kalevala (2003) and Tell Me Rain (2006), have seen the daylight at Savoy Theatre. During these years, the co-operation has proved itself very fruitful for both sides. The group’s latest production Minna Tervamäki’s and Kaari Martin’s joint performance Tervamäki & Martin also found its place at the Savoy Theatre in autumn 2010, with the continuing series of sold-out shows in March 2011.
Now the co-operation of the theatre and the dance group deepens and settles, enabling Compañía Kaari Martin to program and practise its productions on the theatre’s stage in the long run. ”We are delighted about this contract, as it is not self-evident for an independent group to be able to work within this kind of setting”, says Roni Martin. Musician Roni Martin leads Compañía Kaari Martin together with his wife, dancer Kaari Martin.
The agreement pleases also Savoy Theatre: ”With this sort of contract, we want to become explicitly profiled as a stage of world music, an arena for interesting makers that represent the top of their field”, says the director of Savoy Theatre Tapani Närhi.
During autumn 2012 Compañía Kaari Martin honours the 25th anniversary of Savoy Theatre with Tervamäki & Martin Gala, which continues the laudable co-operation of these artistic cousins with new works. Year 2013 will bring the group’s next major production Carmen to the stage. The work presents a twisted view on this flamenco classic, in the true style of Compañía Kaari Martin. The international production team includes a Balkan-Finnish-Spanish orchestra called Hurmos, among other parties.
The Year 2011 Ends in International Atmosphere
Compañía Kaari Martin’s year 2011 has been action-packed. The year started with Tervamäki & Martin night’s extra performances at The Savoy Theatre and in Tampere. The group also visited Korea with its work Tell Me Rain, and performed with six different works all around Finland. In addition, an interpretation of Sibelius’ Violin Concerto was presented live to sold-out audiences at the Our Festival in Järvenpää with violinist Pekka Kuusisto and pianist Heini Kärkkäinen.
In October, the fourth-time running Flamingo Festival served an intransigent firework show of art, with a healthy dose of self-irony. This year, the festival launched a new ambitious competition called Absolute Flamingo, which searched for modern views of flamenco on a global scale. The release party of Roni Martin’s record ”4 Movements for Movement” was also held at the event. The album is a collection of the best pieces composed by Roni Martin for the full-length flamenco works of Compañía Kaari Martin.
Compañía Kaari Martin has collaborated with various Danish artists for years. The last shows of 2011 were seen in Copenhagen as the work called Two Dreams in One, which premiered in 2007, was shown in Copenhagen’s LiteraturHaus on the 7th-8th of December. During the same visit, the groundwork for a new Danish-Finnish co-production was done by organising auditions for local dancers, as the flamenco fantasy work Little Mermaid (2007) is to be performed again in both Denmark and Finland.
The group’s New Year celebrations took place in Paris, as the artistic directors Kaari and Roni Martin are planning and preparing for upcoming shows at the Cité Internationale des Arts residency for artists. The focus in the making is on the third and final part of the trilogy of Kaari Martin: La Femme Rouge and the group’s next major production Carmen.
Additional information: Producer Joonas Antikainen tel. +358 44 555 5473
joonas@companiakaarimartin.fi
Compañía Kaari Martin is an independent dance group founded in 2002, whose works have broadened the perception of flamenco as international contemporary art.
The technique of flamenco is combined with the freedom of modern dance in the repertoire of the award-winning group at the top of their game.
